Other Side of the Fence

Tom Hillman was one of those unlucky guys. He married his high school sweetheart, settled down right away and had a family. At the time this all seemed good. But eventually his wife stopped looking so good, even after a few drinks. His kids were brats to say the least. He was stuck working a dead end job that he hated. He had little to no money and no future prospects. On top of everything else, his doctor just told him that he only had three months left to live.

He took the news hard at first, but after awhile he accepted it. If anything he thought, it would release him from this hell he had made for himself over the years. Smoking had done him in. The doctor had told him that his insurance was good enough to cover the expensive treatments he would need to prolong his life. His wife refused to dip into their savings so he was just plain stuck. The doctor offered to check into help for him as far as the payments went but Tom refused. Better now than later he thought.

Tom wanted to quit his job and try and enjoy his last three months of life, but his wife said no. How will you support your family if we don't have any money coming in, she said. After a few days of pleading with her, she finally agreed to let him take one week of his paid vacation time. Although, she did say that this would change her plans she had already made for that money after he was gone.

You would think considering the circumstances, she would cut him some slack. However, that wasn't the case. It had gotten to the point that he couldn't remember why he had ever fallen in love with her in the first place. He ended up settling on the idea that he had fallen so hard because she was good in bed. Of course, he had forgotten how that was as well. It had been years.

She had decided not to let him tell their two children about his illness. Do you have any idea how news of something like this might effect our children? We'll just tell them that you ran off or something once you're gone, she said. Whatever, he thought. His kids never aid him any time of day anyway. They probably wouldn't even notice him gone until they needed money for something.

Tom had just finished packing everyone's suitcases for the third time. Every time he would finish, his wife would get her fat butt up off the coach and with a quick glance tell him that he had done it wrong. She would then stress this point by dumping everything out of the suitcases and onto the floor. Eventually he either had gotten it right or she had gotten tired of getting up. Either way, he was now loading the car.

His wife had decided that the best way to spend his vacation was to go and see her mother. They hadn't been there in awhile and to hear her tell it, she needed a man around the house to do some fixing up of some things. His vacation was going to be a week of hard labor for another woman that could never be pleased. Now driving down the road they made their way to the freeway.

After being on the freeway for a few hours his mind started to drift. His wife had been nagging him the whole time. He was either always in the wrong lane or he was going too fast or too slow. The kids had their radio in the back up so loud he couldn't hear himself think. On top of all this, his son kept hitting him in the back of the head with a basketball. He wanted to stop the car and rip the kids head off but his wife would have none of that. Tom Hillman, don't you ever lay a hand on, or speak cross to our kids ever, she said.

Then it happened. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a small Italian sports car approaching his left side fast. As they passed by, he noticed that there two passengers both wearing wedding attire. They were both laughing and having a great time. They both appeared to be in their very early twenties with their whole lives ahead of them. Oh, to be him, Tom thought. This guy had to have money to be driving a car like that and his bride was to drop dead gorgeous. He would kill three guys to have a woman like that for just one night, he thought. As they passed by and became mere tail lights getting smaller and smaller, Tom began to think. Then he began to pray.

God, I never asked you for anything ever he thought. Taking a quick look around the car he figured that it showed but he would remind God just in case. If I could ask for just one thing it would be to trade places with that guy that just drove past. I know that's asking a lot, God, but don't you think that maybe I deserve it? I've been a good man all my life. I've gone to church every Sunday since I was little. Even if it was just for one day God, at least it would be something.

Then BAM! All of a sudden he was behind the wheel of the little Italian sports car. The sudden place change made him swerve sharply to the left. This made his new bride almost fall into his lap with her double D's almost spilling out of the little to nothing wedding dress in the process. Wanting to get a little, of course, this made him swerve sharply over to the right. She never stopped giggling the whole time. Deciding he should get a fix on the road, he tried to stop swerving but couldn't. This is when he noticed an almost empty Champaign bottle in his left hand. Glancing back over his shoulder he noticed three empties on the floor behind his seat. He was trashed. Looking back to the front he was too late. Apparently a semi truck had broken down on the freeway and hadn't been able to get all the way off the road. He slammed into the back of the truck doing over ninety miles an hour.

The little sports car was demolished on impact. He didn't die instantly, however. Lying on the side of the freeway he noticed how traffic had slowed down to a crawl as they now passed. Everyone wanted to see dead people or something, he figured. Just as he was about to take his last breath, he saw his car approaching. He knew it was his car because he could hear his wife nagging loudly at the driver. He could hear the loud stereo in the back seat and see hints of a basketball bouncing off the drivers head. As his car drove by, the driver glanced out the window at him. He had a huge smile on his face stretching from ear to ear. Although he was currently in Tom's old hell of a life, at least he was ALIVE!

Tom's head hit the hard pavement as he died, watching his car slowly drive away.

THE END

On June 14, 1996, Paul Campbell became an honor grad from The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Beginning his career, he quickly became the art director/manager for a weekly newspaper called The Review, which produced four separate weekly print editions. After gaining the experience needed he moved on to start his own publishing company, The News Journal Magazine. Starting the company with only 2k and 2 old beat up computers, he made a profit on the first month and never looked back. The News Journal Magazine produced 3 monthly tabloid type print magazines for over 5 years, in which time boasted advertisers such as but not limited to: Cedar Point, Six Flags, Sea World, Cleveland-Pittsburgh-Akron Zoos' to name only a few. Due to the decline in the economy, he was eventually forced to shut down however; but not before gaining even more experience. After contemplating his next move for a year or so, Paul decided to begin writing again. He now has published works in both stories and illustrations in e-zines, print magazines and books Paul recently added a published book of stories titled “Inside the Insane” to his credits. The book can be purchased on Amazon.com and at other book stores including select Borders Bookstores. He is also currently planning the release of his second horror book titled “40 Bullets to the Head” sometime in 2006. His illustrations are beginning to make an impact in the industry, due to his unique old school style of working in oils. He's currently illustrating for over a dozen companies.

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